# Using another property as a default value

**URL:** <https://community.hubspot.com/t/using-another-property-as-a-default-value/72854>\
**Category:** Email Marketing Tool\
**Tags:** contacts, how-to, marketing-email, enterprise\
**Created:** [January 13, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/using-another-property-as-a-default-value/72854 "2023-01-13T11:37:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DJohnson4](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/djohnson4/32/92090_2.png) [@DJohnson4](https://community.hubspot.com/u/DJohnson4)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/using-another-property-as-a-default-value/72854/1 "2023-01-13T11:37:01Z")

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Hi,

Does anyone know if setting a personalisation token default value as another property is possible?

For example, if I am starting an email with Dear [[Title]] [[Last Name]], I don’t always have a value for [[Title]]. So, what I would like to do is force Hubspot to use their first name instead, if the title is missing. I realise the easiest way to do this is probably to use smart rules, but i already have smart rules for something else on this module.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

David

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**Author:** ![karstenkoehler](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/karstenkoehler/32/68554_2.png) [@karstenkoehler](https://community.hubspot.com/u/karstenkoehler)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/using-another-property-as-a-default-value/72854/2 "2023-01-13T11:46:43Z")

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Hi @DJohnson4,

Here are the options I see:

- Custom code a solution directly in your email template, with the help of a developer.
- Copy the _First name_ into the _Title_ when the _Title_ is unknown. This has the huge disadvantage that you do not know anymore which contact has a valid title or not.
- Create a custom single-line text property _Full salutation_ and hard code the entire full salutation into that; the entire phrase ‘Dear Salutation Last Name’. In a contact-based workflow, enroll all contacts, then branch on the different options of title being known / unknown, first and last name being known / unknown. In each branch, you can then use the _Set property value_ action to fill the new _Full salutation_ property with the correct personalization tokens. Again, this would be the entire line of text, hardcoded into one property. You wouldn’t have to think about smart rules anymore. If you choose this option, make sure to enable re-enrollment for your workflow so that the _Full salutation_ is updated when a _Title_ becomes known, for example.

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

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**Author:** ![Jerdaine\_digita](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jerdaine_digita/32/35956_2.png) [@Jerdaine\_digita](https://community.hubspot.com/u/Jerdaine_digita)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/using-another-property-as-a-default-value/72854/3 "2023-01-14T23:20:44Z")

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Yes, it is possible to set a default value for a personalization token using another property. One way to do this is by using the “Fallback” feature in the personalization token settings. This allows you to specify a default value that will be used if the primary token is empty.

Another way to accomplish this is by using a “smart content” module in your email template. Smart content allows you to create different versions of your email based on certain conditions. You can create a condition that checks if the “Title” property is empty and if so, use the “First Name” property as the default value.

In addition to these methods, you can also use the “if-else” statement in the email template code. This allows you to check if the “Title” property has a value, and if not, use the “First Name” property as the default value.

Please note that these are all ways to achieve this, but it’s important to test and make sure the solution you choose works as expected in your specific use case.

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**Author:** ![Naveen28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Naveen28](https://community.hubspot.com/u/Naveen28)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 7:59am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/using-another-property-as-a-default-value/72854/4 "2025-01-02T07:59:02Z")

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![feedback value.PNG](https://d2qpr2jzcazej7.cloudfront.net/original/2X/a/a629b93a7c37c4cbfa913dc4cc6968841fc5c50a.png)

if your form doesnt have the first name field or the value is null in hubspot-you can consider fallback value like “there” .this lets the email goes out -HI there even if you do not have the first name. Note you need to add Hi in the email template
